News
Upcycling for cycling. The volunteer group restoring bicycles for those in need
By Liam Taylor 13 July 2022
A group of retirees from the Adelaide foothills is saving broken bicycles from landfill and sending them to people who couldn’t afford them otherwise.
The volunteers from Blackwood Bike Shed receive their weekly work through donations of unwanted bicycles and use skills gained over a lifetime of work to tinker away until they are returned to useful condition. Some parts are repaired, and others are replaced with new parts with the old ones sent away for recycling. Last year alone over six tonnes of steel were recycled through the bike shed.
The process provides a great opportunity for the retirees to put their hard earned skills to use for a good cause.
"[We] put as little as we can into landfill, give as much to charity as we can, just do your little bit," volunteer Peter Jones told ABC News.
"It's an attitude and professionalism. We enjoy what we are doing and we are helping other people. What more can you do?"
The upcycled bicycles are available to purchase from the bike shed for a small donation, but the group has also recently begun exporting their positive impact overseas. In a collaboration with not-for-profit Containers of Hope, they are packing hundreds of bikes into shipping containers to be sent to 20 developing countries, where they can be used by people who otherwise have no transport options besides their own legs.
"The bikes are unbelievable because people can walk for hours to get to work or to get to school. This (a bike) means they can do it in a 10th of the time," Mr Moore told ABC News.
Planet Ark does not take responsibility for the accuracy of the original information and encourages readers to check the references before using this information for their own purposes.
Prior to joining Planet Ark Liam spent his time studying global environmental issues, travelling Southeast Asia on the cheap and working for a sustainable property management company in Bali, Indonesia. Joining the communications team at Planet Ark, he hopes to inspire positive environmental behaviour through effective and positive messaging.
